ME LOST ME

ME LOST ME/GWFAA/VELOUR AT THE RAILWAY INN, WINCHESTER - 19/10/23

Winchester used to be the capital of England, and it still seems to think itself quite important. It seems like a place where rich people belong, cushioned from the world beyond, living in a sort of fantasy. Outside it’s raining, but inside it’s cosy as can be.

Fantasy

VELOUR make exactly the kind of music that I really don’t like. It’s a kind of anthemic, melodramatic eighties-style soft pop, accompanied by torso dancing and miming synthetic drum fills with index fingers. It reminds me of Spandau Ballet, to my mind one of the worst bands to have ever shat upon planet Earth. Sorry, I don’t want to be mean. I mean, if the goal is to sound like Spandau Ballet then it’s a big success. Towards the end of the set I am disliking it so acutely that I start to feel quite uncomfortable. During the last song I actually feel nauseous. Sorry. I would like it if I could.

Feeling sick

GWFAA consist of two men with lots of gear. There’s something about men with gear that is so completely serious. It’s a solemn sort of play, as if solemnness justifies the amount of gear, and, anyway, they’re not really playing at all, but working. This gear, their solemnness suggests, is not going to use itself. So someone’s got to do it. So it’s justified. I start to feel sleepy, which I think is the idea. I may even doze off once or twice. I can’t be sure I don’t.  

Solemn

ME LOST ME has her fair share of gear too, or “tech” as she calls it, but without the accompanying solemnity. She’s a strange combination of the ancient and modern, with her mix of old English style folk singing and fancy modern gizmos. One minute she’s talking about monks hiding things in bibles and the next about staying up all night playing video games. And there’s a smoke machine that always seems to know the right moment to let itself off, as if it's connected to something, somehow. That’s the kind of vibe, I guess. It shouldn’t work but it does, or maybe it doesn’t work but it should. Maybe it’s the weather, but I’m not really sure about anything this evening.

Something, somehow